Alf Gover remembers his first visit to Lords, which was in 1929. He tells his own story with becoming modesty, so I will pass it on as nearly to his version as I can get.

Alf arrived at the professionals’ dressing room in good time and had no difficulty in recognising the only occupant of the downstairs room. Pat Hendren greeted him very civilly and, having ascertained his name, asked him what he did. “I’m a fast bowler”, said Alf. “Are you very fast?” asked Pat. “Yes, I am”, replied Alf. “Well”, said Pat, “be careful how you bowl to me. I’m not as young as I used to be, and I don’t like fast bowling so much.” Well, thought Alf, I’ve got one in the bag.

When Alf had his first bowl at Pat he had three balls to go to finish the over. The first was naturally a bouncer and it unnaturally landed in the Father Time stand. The young Alf attributed this to blind panic and tried again, and this time it only cost him four. The third bouncer went the way of the first for six, the Umpire called over, and Jack Hobbs stopped to speak to Alf.

“Why are you bowling bouncers at Pat?” he enquired. “Because he doesn’t like fast bowling,” Replied Alf.

Jack’s expression of mild surprise turned to blank astonishment. “Who on Earth told you that?” he asked. “He did”, said Alf. At that Jack smiled. “Then I am telling you,” he said, “that Pat is still as good a player of fast bowling as anyone I know.”

DCF Burton (Captain, Yorkshire C.C.C., 1919-1921) writes: Maurice Leyland did not appear regularly for Yorkshire until 1922. He played once in 1920 and occasionally in 1921 under my captaincy. It was evident he had a great future before him. Maurice was charming to everyone and must have been one of the most popular cricketers of his day. He had a great sense of humour and told many amusing stories in the Yorkshire dialect. It was always thought in Yorkshire that the ball called "The Chinaman" originated from Maurice. A left-arm bowler, he sometimes bowled an enormous off-break from round the wicket which, if not accurately pitched, was easy to see and to get away on the leg-side. In later days, laughing about this, he would say it was a type of ball that might be good enough to get the Chinese out if no one else. Hence this ball became Maurice's "Chinaman."

Extraordinary line-up there Blakus. Nine attacking batsman and six front-line bowlers all capable of taking wickets. No way is any Test match going the full five days unless the wicket is a feather-bed.

Really loving your bowling and wicketkeeper, watson. Looks pretty ace. Plenty of variety and possibly the best gloveman of them all behind the stumps.

As usual I've concentrated a little too much on my bowling attack. However, the batting line-up is very solid with no obvious weak links. It would be very difficult to break down for any bowling attack as each batsman is very stubborn whether they be attacking or defensive.

You can count me as a fan of your bowling attack as well, Watson. However I would open with Barnes instead of Adcock. He was at his best with the new ball and I reckon he contrasts better with the pace of Lindwall

You can count me as a fan of your bowling attack as well, Watson. However I would open with Barnes instead of Adcock. He was at his best with the new ball and I reckon he contrasts better with the pace of Lindwall

OK. You've talked me into it.

BTW Blakus. With 6 frontline bowlers when are Compton or Sehwag going to be introduced into the attack?

I felt that Waugh would be a certainty to go in R12, so I thought I'd jump the gun and grab him while I still can. It gives me a superb, versatile batsman who is also one of the greatest all-round fielders ever, so it's like an insurance policy. If people suddenly decide McCabe is not a good fifth (something he most certainly is, took a wicket a match on average and was capable of a handy spell here and there) then I can take Yousuf out and put Waugh in. Then McCabe and Waugh can share the fifth bowling duties and the batting lineup is not significantly weakened.

I felt that Waugh would be a certainty to go in R12, so I thought I'd jump the gun and grab him while I still can. It gives me a superb, versatile batsman who is also one of the greatest all-round fielders ever, so it's like an insurance policy. If people suddenly decide McCabe is not a good fifth (something he most certainly is, took a wicket a match on average and was capable of a handy spell here and there) then I can take Yousuf out and put Waugh in. Then McCabe and Waugh can share the fifth bowling duties and the batting lineup is not significantly weakened.

What do you think?

That's a big call. Mohammad Yousef is probably in the top 20 batsman of the modern era (>1960). The question is whether McCabe should be swapped with Waugh as Waugh is good enough to act as a stand alone 5th bowler. But then again I do have a soft spot for McCabe because of his 232.

That's a big call. Mohammad Yousef is probably in the top 20 batsman of the modern era (>1960). The question is whether McCabe should be swapped with Waugh as Waugh is good enough to act as a stand alone 5th bowler. But then again I do have a soft spot for McCabe because of his 232.

Personally I think McCabe is a great fifth. Chances are in an ATG game, a fifth bowler wouldn't need to bowl too often, perhaps 3 or 4 overs before the new ball (unless you have a genuine five pronged attack of course, but that's a different strategy altogether).

If you look at the strike rates of my fast bowlers though, the numbers suggest we wouldn't even get that far

Personally I think McCabe is a great fifth. Chances are in an ATG game, a fifth bowler wouldn't need to bowl too often, perhaps 3 or 4 overs before the new ball (unless you have a genuine five pronged attack of course, but that's a different strategy altogether).

If you look at the strike rates of my fast bowlers though, the numbers suggest we wouldn't even get that far

Most normal Test teams are lucky to have 2 really great batsman in their side. All the teams here have at least 4 or more. Hence the Strike Rates of your bowlers will head north during a knock-out tournament with the 11 other teams. Hence, a good 5th bowler is not essential but desirable.

Plus your 4 frontline bowlers are going to get tired in a protracted knock-out Test series spread over a couple of years. I guess our assumptions depend on the format and situation.